Fallout Australia

History

Australia, as an Anglo-American ally and member of the Commonwealth, found itself part of the First World in the 20th and 21st centuries. Possessing its entire continent with the ocean serving as its barrier, its technological advancement was only rivalled by the United States, China and Brazil. A request for union with New Zealand in 2005 was welcomed by Christchurch, the island becoming a largely autonomous region The huge amounts of oil Australia had access to allowed its citizens to have a vastly increased quality of life, with flourishing technology and population rendering previously uninhabitable lands now inhabitable. Naturally, its defenses were shored up as instability rocked the world, to safeguard its borders, citizen and fuel reserves both from a now-Communist Indonesia and the increasingly-needy United States.

Although civilians enjoyed numerous luxuries, the declaration of Total War by the Communist Union meant that the threat in the North was growing: militarization of the country was to follow. To cover the huge continent and long borders, universal conscription was implemented, although the liberal use of robotics and automation meant many Australians saw little action, and enjoyed short tours of duty to patrol. Nonetheless, a surprise attack at Darwin allowed Indonesia a foothold in the north that never extended beyond Katherine, which was repelled quickly.

The Australian government, wising up, sent the bulk of its elite, along with numerous intellectuals to bunkers in the mainland and New Zealand, as well as offshore oil rigs: a move that largely went undetected by Communist surveillance. Military defense became consolidated by city, with travel between cities for non-government sanctioned purposes dwindling. This strategy meant that a second attempt by Indonesia to annex Darwin as a foothold was met with fierce resistance, although numerous smaller forces as well as defectors made it into the deserts, surviving with varying amounts of success. The battle, and subsequent siege would last for 3 months before the bombs dropped everywhere.

Cities with high populations were targeted, although few bombs were specifically directed to Australia due to its virtual nonaction during conflict. Altogether, only 50 missiles, yield unknown, were recorded as By virtue of being mostly desert and wilderness, only a small portion of Australia was rendered uninhabitable by immediate fallout. Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth were hit the hardest, with most of its infrastructure obliterated. Human casualties, however, were minimized due to evacuations to smaller towns, shelters and bunkers. Pockets of survivors tided through the black rain that swept the continent using the water purifiers the parched continent had relied on so greatly pre-war, and within 5 years settlements had sprung up on the skeletons of pre-war Australia. In a broken world, hope persisted.